Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1887-12-17

4 StTslFre1 imam lie lNSI. w I1II lNGI0 ANSu u
gan kicking protuberant bit of mud until
he wore away part Of it and exposed some
| thing white to view. With considerable ex-
ertion we uncovered the object, which proved
to be skeleton.
Ned was for leaving the place at once, but
determined TO investigate further, in the
hope of finding some clasp or ornament
banging about the bones, and so, throwing
| OF the feeling of repulsion, which the first
sight of the gristly remains sent over me-
| set to work; nor was | disappointed, for
hanging about the neck by cord, which
crumbled into pieces at my touch, found
small engraved amulet or medal of a curious
red metal, not unlike gold, and lying near it,
a small bronze dagger.
believe the medal was a bit Of orichal-
cum, that precious red metal of the ancients
which Plato tells of. 1t was badly Clipped
and worn, but we could see that it bore de-
sign similar to that upon the gate, Neptune
and the sun figuring prominently upon it.
The dagger had small handle and con-
tanned no ornamentatIon whatever, except
small spiral at the top of the hilt 1t had
broad, short blade, with a rounded point,
and was in perfect preservation, save that it
| was covered with rust This find encouraged
us to search further but we only succeeded
in beginning ourselves more than ever, If
that were possible.
While we We're wandering through the
ruins wind had sprung up, for which the
captain expressed his sincere thanks, since it
| would soon take us out of that internal
place.
Like all sailors, Capt. Jack had his super
stitions, and though there was no Drawer man
| upon the sea, yet | really believe he was
afraid in that city of the dead, of what l can
| not tell but there is an awe inspired by the
| silence of great ruins, the sad unbrokeA
silence attendant upon their decay, and this
may have worked upon him; at any rate, be
wanted to go at once when he first saw the
breeze swaying the sea weed draperies to and
| fro, and shaking drops of moisture from
| them that looked like diamonds in the moon
! light as they fell.
| In spite of the captains protestations, we
| decided to ascend the walls of the city and
| overlook our surroundings before leaving,
| and began our ascent at a place where they
| were crumbling away. Our foothold was
not sure for moment, between the slippery
| sea weed and loose stones, but we succeeded
1 in reaching the top of the wall, and were
| well paid for our toll.
| We could not, however, see the extent of
| the ruins; pile ON pile they stretched away
as far as the eye could see, apparently end
| less-and everywhere was that ghttering
| green covering.
| Upon the mountain side we could discern
huge pile, formed like the Egyptian pyra-
mids, but larger and grander in every way.
| Had we been able to reach it, do not doubt
| that we should have found it to be the work
of man, but we did not make the attempt,
for we noticed dark clouds gathering on the
L l<,,, ard
| Fearing they would soon obscure the moon,
| upon whose light we depended to find our
way, we set out at once to return to the yacht
| On the road we heard a curious rumbling
noise ard felt a slight trembling of the earth,
so slight, in fact, that we were at first in
| clined to doubt our own senses, but another
| tremor soon occurred and the fall of a tot
| tering piece of masonry convinced us thatwe
| were not mistaken.
| We made all haste to reach the gate by
| which we had entered, DESTROYS of escaping
| from such precarious quarters as quickly as
possible, but the task of finding it was not
such an easy one as we anticipated.
| We retraced our steps, as we supposed, until
! we reached the spot where the gate should
| have been, according to our reckoning, but il
| was not there, then it dawned upon us that
| we were lost amid the ruins.
| Our danger was heightened by continually
| recurring trenors and rumblings in the
earth, which threatened to overthrow
some mighty mass of stone and crush us all
| beneath it. We looked at each other in blank
| dismay. What were we to doc
| Suddenly bright idea occurred to me,
and / clambered up to the top of the pile OF
masonry to take an observation, and sure
enough, not fifty yards away | saw the great
1
| ticed nsar the gate; hurTying across it we
soon found the path by which we had come.
| Occasionally we could hear the crash Of
some falling mass as it toppled down, over
thrown by the trembling earth, but this only
served t. heighten our fears and accelerate
! our pace.
All the poetic beauty of our surroundings,
| which had SO impressed US, seemed TO have
| fed the moment the danger of remaining be-
came apparent.
| When we reached the gate we discovered
that It had fallen, and the shock of its fall
| had badly Jared the surroundings, causing
| the overthrow of several pillars and CON-
| pletely blocking up that mode Of egress.
The wall here was in a much more perfect
stute Of preservation than in the place we had
| climbed before, and it seemed an impossible.
| ,ty tomount its perpendicular sides.
Fortunately one of the pillars whose fall
had barred our way, lay diagonally against
| the wall, and we decided to crawl along its
sides and reach the top by that means.
Capt. Jack, being sailor and consequent
ly the best climber, went first
Had our position been less serious we
would have had the heartiest Of laughs at
| Kim, but as it was, we were in no laughing
| hnmor, and knew we would all have to go
through the same performance.
The pillar was quite smooth, and, being
covered with seaweed, very slippery. Just
! how many times we almost reached the top,
only to slide back again, | haven't the
slightest idea, but it was more than once.
We finally reached the top Of the wall only
to come to a stand still as regards a mode of
descent upon the other side II was fully